The Multi-Network Apple SIM is the biggest news Apple didn’t announce last night

Last night Apple announced the iPad Mini 3 and the iPad Air 2, along with a bunch of information about updates to iOS 8. Despite making us listen to a lot of information we’d heard before Apple apparently forgot to announce one important tidbit of information: The Apple SIM, a SIM card built into the Wi-Fi+LTE version of the iPad Air 2 that will offer more network flexibility.

The SIM is designed to give a lot more flexibility when choosing a short term data plan in the US and the UK. Basically it means you can choose the deal that suits you best without the need for any long term commitment, or the hassle of having to get a brand new SIM card everytime. The biggest bonus is that you can use this when you’re travelling to sign on for a short-term deal to keep your data needs sorted for the entirety of your trip.

At this point in time it’s only available on EE in this country which means it’s not that flexible when you’re here. It is, however, compatible with AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile in the US meaning if you travel to the US you’ll have no problem finding a deal that suits you.

So far there has been no word on whether other UK networks will opt into this system, but if it works I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t be at some time in the future.